Who Sees The Truth RESTART!
by password0925
Summary: Naruto was given the burden of caging the strongest of the Bijuus, the Kyuubi no Kitsune. What if he had more than the Kyuubi that troubles his mind? Will his best friends and fellow outcasts be able to help him stay sane? AU.


Okay, I deleted the first try of this. Why? I actually thought it was pretty good, but, well, I need to learn from it. So, this is actually the continuation of that, and I'm going to be using flashbacks on this one. Hopefully, you guys will like this more.

'Too Lazy To Log In ()', BTB, thonot, thanks for the truthful reviews. Hope you read this once again, and tell me some ways to possibly improve it. XD

Obakeinu-9.11, The-Real-James-Potter, Cryofthewolf, Hee-Ho Master, Fuyutaro son, Sage of Asgard, thanks for the positive reviews! Hope you read this and continue to like it! :D

To all those that made my story a Favorite, sorry for taking it down and thanks for reading it! I'm actually all giddy every time I see a Favorite Story Alert, so, please get back on this and I hope you like it!

Oh yeah, 'randomfanfictionapreciator ()' or 'afanfictionapreciator ()', or whatever, message me up. Anyone can pitch in too, just message me and I'll give you details on what I had planned for Kei and Hisoka. Let's talk about the eyes! XD

So, this is supposed to be after the latest chapter I updated before I took it down. If anyone wants to read Chapter 8 and 9, message me and I'll send you a copy, though I recommend on not wanting to see it. It was actually those two chapters which caused me to rework this story. :D

* * *

Chapter 1: Declaration of War!

The sun was starting to peek from over the horizon. People were starting to stir while the others were already out, ready to set their stalls for the soon to be busy hour. The only children that were already getting up for the day were the Academy Students, with the exception of a certain blonde. He sat up on his bed, curled in on himself. He hadn't slept a wink since last night, and the lack of sleep didn't help to soothe out his already twisted nerves. To put simply, the boy was currently a nervous wreck.

His feet tucked close towards his chest, his fingers kept twitching while he rocked himself back and forth. _"Why do I even have this, whatever this is!" _he thought as he squeezed his eyes shut as his mind tears through memory after memory, reliving every event of his life so far, remembering every detail so clearly as if it happened only a few minutes before.

=Flashback=

Thud. Thud. Pain was erupting from everywhere in his body as he curled into himself, his arms put in front of his face to shield it from whatever it was that was happening. Thud. Thud. Thud. He was crying, had been crying ever since the old lady started. He was happy to see some source of light when the door was opened by the old lady, but confusion hit as he saw the other lady going downstairs with two other kids he only sometimes saw. And then, the pain started. He had been crying for how long, he no longer knew. His voice was now gone from shouting, asking, begging for the pain to stop. Thud. Crunch. His eyes grew wide as he felt his side erupt in a new wave of pain, stronger than what he had felt before. He started coughing, and blood sprayed out onto the floor as he hugged himself in the area where the pain was coming from. His vision started fading, everything turning hazy. Just then, the old lady violently grabbed his shoulder, turned him to the side and then slapped him with all of her might. His whole world shook and his mind fought to re-orient him as the force snapped his head to the side too quickly.

"You don't get to rest just yet! One more thing before I leave you here, you little demon!" she hissed in his ear as she forced him on his back. She took the hand that was still holding his side, stretched it out and away from his body and then driving a knife through his palm. The child's eyes widened as he quickly got up and curled in on himself over his pinned hand as he tried to let out a scream. He grabbed onto his wrist and gripped it tight as he stared in horror at his bleeding hand. Tears gushed from his eyes as pain wracked his entire body.

Too busy on crying over the pain in his hand, he forgot everything else around him; up until the old lady snapped him back to reality. She kicked the child hard on his side where she knew she had broken a few ribs until he was sent back lying on the floor. Stepping on his wrist, she grabbed onto the knife's handle and pulled with all her might until the knife was free. The wooden floor released the knife and her own force sent her to fall down on her butt. She wiped the blade on the child's pants until it was clean from blood, sheathed it again and hid it away inside her blouse before standing up and moving outside of the closet, rubbing her sore behind while complaining about the pain it brought her. Slamming the door shut, she locked it with a key before propping the chair below the doorknob.

"You're not coming out until the pain in my butt goes away! Nor will you be able to so much as taste food until you learn to control your tongue!" she shouted from behind the door before going down the staircase and pushing it up, closing the attic entrance.

The child just laid there, his mind blank as his body felt sore. A pool of blood so big that it reached his body and head surrounded his outstretched arm. He couldn't understand what happened, or why it happened. All his mind knew now was the pain of the entire experience, his broken ribs screaming at him with every breath, his outstretched hand giving him sharp stings with every twitch. That's right…right now, all his mind knew nothing but pain as his eyes stared out into the darkness. Soon, his mind knew nothing more but darkness, not even the pain, as he finally went unconscious.

= Flashback End=

His breathing was now getting heavier and heavier as he fought against the racing memories.

=Flashback=

He walked up to certain group and asked the closest boy to play. The boys shared a knowing look before inviting the child outside in the quicksand. The largest boy of the group picked him up and gently placed him onto the sandbox.

"So, you wanna play a game?" the boy asked. He was easily twice as big as him, and a simple description of him would be a very round boy. He wore a smug grin on his face as he looked down on the boy he easily towers over.

"Yeah…pway." Was all Naruto said as he nodded his head.

"Can you even stand yet?" asked a boy behind him, making the child's head turn towards the voice. The boy was also tall, but very skinny, causing his arms and legs to look abnormally long.

"Yeah." He said as he again nodded his head before wobbly getting on his feet, his hands flailing in the air trying to balance himself. Getting a stable enough standing form, he looked at the boy and grinned widely, squinting his eyes as his toothy smile stretched from ear to ear. Suddenly, a boy behind him pushed him hard, making him dive head first into the sand. All the boys laughed loudly as he got up and sat on his feet, his hands in between his legs in front of him and looking around, confused.

"Come on. Stand up. We can't play the game with you sitting around." The boy in front of him said with an unpleasant smile. Looking towards the boy that pushed him, he turned around before making another attempt to stand. Getting on his feet slowly, he was straightening his body from a crouch, hands in front of him as if supporting himself on air, the boy that was now behind him used a shoving kick on his butt to send him diving into the sand once more. This time, instead of just lying on top of the sand, his left arm had fallen first, causing it to skid on the sand and getting burned. The child cried as the pain from his arm registered in his mind, blood oozing a small trickle down to his elbow.

=Flashback End=

His body was now shivering, and he tightened his muscles to try and gain control of his shaking, efforts failing as his mind flashed a new memory.

=Flashback=

It was on a stormy night, heavy rain causing a roaring noise inside the house as its drops would continuously pound the roof, thunder cackled and exploded almost every two minutes, with lightning flashing so bright so frequently that everyone in the village had thought in unnecessary to use candles except when for reading. The conditions made it seem more like a nightmare, but the pain he had felt was all too real.

"You stupid, idiotic brat! You cursed being! Accursed bastard child!" she shouted at the top of her lungs, knowing the thunder would be too loud for anyone except her and Naruto to hear. He merely got up and went to the bathroom to take a pee, but she apparently saw it as him breaking her laws. She immediately grabbed his wrist soon as he got out of the bathroom, intentionally making her long nails sink into his skin. She threw him into the closet and Naruto saw in her eyes that something was different. She had gotten so mad, so angry and so crazy that she brought out something he never thought she had. A whip with thorns on its end lashed at him over and over and over. He would shield his eyes so as not to hurt him in the face and maybe gouge his eyes. That and he was too afraid…too afraid of her, too afraid of the pain, too afraid of dying. Even when she was taking a breather, she wouldn't let him rest for she had also brought her knife with her, the blade reflecting the light from the lightning. She would sit on top of him and slash away at his arms and shoulders, sometimes even stabbing him through his legs or shoulders. Having lost the aching in her other arm, she would then begin whipping him. Over and over, she would constantly inflict pain on him, sometimes leaving the knife where she would stab him; punch him wherever she could before she would forcefully rip it out once she needed it again.

"Stop! Please…stop…it hurts!" he would always cry out, begging for her to stop the pain. He would keep shouting until his throat would hurt, and he would cry even until his tears would dry up, still she wouldn't stop.

"You demon! Did you stop when my sons cried out in pain? Did you show mercy when you squashed my entire family?" she would always answer him, her own tears streaming down her face and her strike would grow heavier as she did her best to pour every ounce of her fury into them.

"W-what are you talking about? I don't understand what you're saying! Please…just stop it! I'll do anything…ANYTHING! Just stop hurting me…please…"

"THEN BRING THEM BACK! BRING THEM BACK YOU MONSTER! YOU DEMON! WHY DON'T YOU JUST DIE AND BRING THEM BACK TO ME!" she roared out, her hair now hanging down her shoulders and back, wavy white hair, that looked like tendrils waving in the air as her movements would cause them to sway back and forth. Starting to tire out, she raised her knife high up in the air, clutching it with both hands and started to strike…only for it to stop mid-air as Tsuki would tackle her to the ground.

"Auntie Akki! What're you doing? Do you want to die along with that demon?" she shouted, shaking the older woman by the shoulders as she sat on top of her.

"It doesn't matter! I don't care anymore!" *SLAP*

"Dying along with that demon would taint you, Auntie! Father, Uncle, as well as all of my cousins are waiting for you in a good place, not in Hell!" she screamed as her own tears were now falling. The old lady looked up to her, a hand touching her now reddening cheek, and as one they would look at the boy on the floor.

"You're right. You're right. I shouldn't hurt them like that…they've already suffered enough at the hands of that demon!" the old lady said. Pushing her niece off of her, she stood up and recovered her knife. She would then walk over to the crying boy, yank his arm away from his body and slam it on the floor. She then sat on top of it to prevent him from squirming, and then posed to stab him through his hand. She stopped once she saw the pinkish scar. A wicked smile started to form on her face as she slightly turned her body to look at the blonde straight in the eye.

"You kids like scars right? Think it's cold or something like that, right?" she asked. She turned her back to him, raised her knife and held down his struggling hand.

"How's a cross sound to you?" she hissed before driving the blade through his hand once again. Crossing her leg with his arm, she pulled out the knife, signaled to Tsuku and the both of them picked the writhing boy up and threw him towards the closet, shutting the door, locking it and propping the chair against it. She picked up her whip and started to head downstairs, her arm slung around Tsuku's shoulders as the young woman wrapped her arms around the old woman; her head leaned on Akki's shoulder as her aunt leaned her head against hers. Naruto would once again do his best to bear the pain until he would give in to unconsciousness.

=Flashback End=

He let out a low growl as he pressed his palms on his temples, pushing and trying to squeeze his head in an attempt to stop the memories.

=Flashback=

Naruto no longer knew what was going on. One second, he was fighting that bastard Iji, and the next, the clangs and sparks that brought about his nightmares was all around him. His senses were being overwhelmed, and he could no longer tell the shouts of his friends from the shouts of the bullies nor from the shouts of people he had suddenly started to hear. Then there was that faint clinking of chains with occasional heavy thuds and scraping wood. He was starting to get a headache, and as he reached for his head, the bully he was fighting with socked him clean on the jaw. His world started spinning as his legs started to give way. He caught himself in the last second, refusing to yield to the older boy. He punched and kicked, threw knees and elbows and even once did a headbutt which he regretted later on. On and on he kept trading blows with the boy, not willing to give up. A kick to the groin gave him an assured advantage as Iji was brought to his knees. He sent an uppercut, and then threw in punch after punch, hitting him square in the face. In his rage, he hadn't noticed the bloody mess Iji's face was starting to be, nor was he able to sense the children behind him, bashing him in the back. He turned around and punched the kid nearest to him, and he saw that all of Iji's gang had come to beat him up. Looking at his friends, they were teetering on the edge of consciousness, with bruises on their faces and blood on their lips. He thrashed and thrashed as boy after boy came towards him, punching wildly and sending kicks everywhere. A fist found its way into his gut, and then another to his side before someone tackled him to the ground.

"_I'm so weak. I can't even protect my friends."_ He thought as he started to feel the anguish of letting his friends get beat up. A rumbling within his mind and a whisper answered his thoughts.

"_**Just kill them…"**_the faded voice trailed off. _**"Just think of killing them, and I'll gladly do the rest for you…"**_

"_What are you talking about? And who are you anyway?"_

"_**Who I am, you will know sometime soon. As to what I am talking about, I'm answering your question. Why are you so weak? It's because you have no desire to kill them. Wish it to be, and I will show you what real power is."**_

"_I don't want to kill them! I just want them to leave me alone!"_

"_**They'll leave you alone soon as they're dead…"**_

"_Shut up! And how could you give me power to kill them anyways? What are you, the Devil?"_ another rumbling shook his mind; not noticing that time outside his mind has stopped.

"_**I'm something real close to him. Now, do you want my power or not? I assure you, I won't disappoint…"**_the voice said, before Naruto felt a sudden strength within him.

"_Wha-, what is this? Is this the power you were talking about?"_

"_**Only a small portion of it, miniscule even. A fraction of a fraction, I have more power than what you could even comprehend. All you have to do is to accept my conditions. Give in to your rage, turn it into bloodlust and let loose my power…"**_ Naruto opened his eyes, only to find himself in the middle of darkness, floating on nothing but the pure pitch black of an infinite space. Images suddenly appeared in thin air around him, showing him victorious over all that would stand in his way. He spun in place, carefully looking at each image, even getting a surprise when he saw the figures from his nightmare, the pale animals and black monkeys, all lie on the ground around his standing form. He was so caught up by his victorious form that he had failed to notice the blood-stained ground, as well as his blood-soaked hands and clothes. Finally looking forward, he saw a huge eye; its iris crimson red and its pupil a large black slit that cut vertically across it. He stared at the monstrous eye that easily dwarfed his figure as the voice came once again.

"_**You need only accept my power and all shall fall before you, even those figures from your nightmares. You shall be free from all of your fears, there will no longer be anyone who will be able to bring pain upon you…"**_ the voice finished before flashing a new image before him. Memories of Akki hurting him everyday flashed one after another, before seemingly breaking and leaving one single image of him holding the limp body of the witch by her blouse's collar. His eyes glazed over and he absent-mindedly started to reach forward where the eye now glowed with red flames burning around it. Just as his fingers were only a few inches away, the fire started to move towards his hand and snaked through his arm towards his body. He felt it give him strength and he reveled in it as he reached forward for more until an image flashed again in front of him. It was the same image, all the bullies lie in heaps on the ground, but what caught his attention was the forms of his friends, face buried and unmoving. Their clothes were ripped to shreds as claw marks stained their bodies red. They were dead, and it would be because of him. His eyes grew in realization, and he pulled back his hand and cut off the connection from the swirling flames.

"_No…"_ was all he could think up of as he now realized what he had seen; him standing over all of the fallen bodies, and all of them were dead.

"_You…you're going to make me kill them. Even my friends…"_

"_**They can't hurt you anymore once they're dead…"**_ the voice countered as the flames again reached for him. He immediately stepped back, trying to get as far away from the flames.

"_I don't want them dead. I just want them to stop hurting me and my friends…and why would you have me kill Kei and Hisoka?"_

"_**They would only be your weakness…"**_

"_No…I won't kill anyone. I, I'm not a bad kid. I'm no demon!" _he finally shouted as he felt a new power within him, he roared his frustrations and he was again engulfed in flames, only now they were colored blue. He forced these flames outward, pushing against the red flames, and in a sudden burst of his new power, he had scattered the red flames apart and away from him.

=Flashback End=

He was now about to shout out when he was shaken violently, forcing his eyes to open in surprise as his mind now started to settle to deal with reorienting the boy with the present.

"Naruto!" the boy shaking him shouted with a worried look on his face. The one next to him was already wiping the cold sweat on his face.

"Come on Naruto! Snap out of it!" the boy flung his arm to his side, ready to give the blonde a large slap on the face. The blonde's eyes narrowed as he saw the arm coming. He thrust a palm towards the elbow joint of the swinging arm, causing the arm to bend and slap its owner's face instead.

"Ha! Take that Kei! Trying to take advantage of the situation, you're such a jerk!" the blonde yelled, pushing the boy and rolling to his side. He was now breathing so hard as the events caught up to him again.

"You ass! I was trying to snap you out of it, and you repay me with a slap?" He looked back to the boy on the ground, and saw he was about to lunge for him. Soon as he was in the air, Naruto tried to get out of the way by pushing with his arms, but the experience had left him drained of energy as well. Before the boy could land on him though, his twin tackled him and slammed him hard on the wooden floor.

"H-His! Wh-why'd you…do that man?" he wheezed out as he got the wind knocked out of him, coughing in between words as he clutched his stomach.

"Well, it was you who gave yourself a slap you know. And besides bro, you were being a jerk." The boy said, getting on his knees and standing up to sit next to Naruto. "You okay dood?"

"Yeah…just, you know. Another one of those." The blonde whispered, his breathing now normal.

"Man, that must really suck dood."

"Kei! Shut up, will you?"

"Make me, jerk! Just because we're twins doesn't mean I won't kick your ass, man!"

"Pft. Last time I checked, I was beating on you! 15-2, right Naruto?"

"Yeah…15-2 in favor of Hisoka. Sorry Kei, guess you're the lesser of the three of us." The blonde let out a chuckle as the dark-haired boy could only give him a glare, after all, the twins knew better than to question the blonde's memory.

"Ha! You just have an advantage over me with your chakra reserves! Soon as I find a way around that, you'll both be kissing my feet! And you'll be the true dead last, dobe!"

"Did you just talk like that arrogant Uchiha?" his twin asked in surprise, his expression showing his shock. At that, Kei lost all his composure as his eyes bulged and his mouth agape. At that, Naruto laughed, all the stress from his 'attack' gone thanks to his best friends.

* * *

They were now getting ready to go out, even though it's still too early for class to start. They decided that to avoid another of Naruto's 'attacks', they needed to be outside and doing some other stuff to occupy the blonde's thoughts. After hearing the words 'other stuff' and 'outside' immediately brought a large grin on the blonde's face, his expression showing the energy and mischief that was waiting to burst. Taking a quick shower and dressing in a hurry, he grabbed his goggles and supply pack from his room, grabbed something from the table drawer in their 'living room' and ran out to their little balcony and jumped up to the roof of the apartment complex.

"_Somehow, I knew Grandpa getting us the top-most apartment was going to be trouble."_ Hisoka sighed as he changed his clothes, already having taken a shower earlier. He reached for a pair of goggles much like Naruto's, but it had a darker tint than the one the blonde had. He activated his doujutsu and checked it in the mirror before covering his eyes with the goggles. He pushed his short hair back, causing them to stand and curve slightly backwards, having only a few strands of his bangs over his right eye. He then grabbed two belts with two supply packs on each of them, and buckled them forming an x around his waist, the packs resting on his sides. He then dashed towards the balcony and joined the blonde on the roof.

Meanwhile, Kei was busy fixing up his hair after his shower. He had his long hair tied in a high knot much like their teacher, Iruka does, and the only difference was he had a single long braided strand just in front of his ear. Having finished, he dressed himself and then grabbed a roll of bandages and placed the roll in his mouth, biting down on it to hold onto while his hands fumbled around his drawers, feeling for his set of goggles. Having no success with that, he activated his doujutsu and quickly located them, put them on without turning his eyes off and rushed to follow the two on top. Soon as he reached the roof, he started to unroll the bandages and wrap it around his right arm. Naruto saw this and his eyes quickly snapped to the set of scars on Kei's arm before looking at the scar on Hisoka's cheek. He then absentmindedly traced the small and barely visible scars on his neck as his mind brought him back to the past yet again.

=Flashback=

"Naruto!" they both said at the same time. "Look out!" "Get away from her!"

All the time he had before a clamp locked down around his neck like a collar was to look behind him and see who the culprit was.

"You demon! I should've known than to trust those nins of Danzou! I should've killed you long ago when you were just small, screw what would happen to me! This village would've felt a lot safer without you in it!" she said as she held the knife above her head, the blade below her fist as she gripped it underhanded, and thrust it towards the blonde's shoulder, burying it as deep as she could. Hisoka immediately threw himself towards Naruto and grabbed the old lady's hand, trying to free her hold of the knife. Akki just glared at him and in one motion, drew the knife from the blonde's shoulder and used the swing to smash the blade's handle's edge against the boy's cheek, only for it to be evaded when the boy leaned his head to the side, causing the blade's tip to slash him across the cheek instead. Twirling the knife in her hand, she now held it normally and was ready to stab Hisoka when Kei latched onto her hand. He had tried to grip the old woman's wrist as hard as he could to force her to drop the knife, but he had too little strength, so he bit down hard on her arm, clenching his jaws tighter and tighter even as he tasted blood in his mouth. Akki screamed and finally released her blade. She reached for the boy's arm with her gauntlet and gripped it as tightly as she could, causing the wires to cut deep through the boy's flesh, making him cry out in pain and let go of her arm. She threw him to the ground just as soon as an explosion to the side sounded. He no longer knew what was going on, it was pure chaos within his mind. All he knew that his friends had gotten hurt and that soon, he was next and he had a feeling that this time, he might just remain asleep afterwards.

=Flashback End=

"NARUTO!" the twins shouted together, jolting Naruto's mind from his memories.

"We gonna do this or what?" Kei asked as he let his brother wrap the bandages around his arm. Both of them had their eyes on him, a sign of knowing can be seen from within those tinted goggles. Knowing about their concern, he flashed them his grin and gave a thumbs up.

"Of course! I'm only waiting for you slowpokes!" he said laughing. Both shook their heads slowly and cocked an eyebrow at the blonde. With a nod, they all leapt into the air as high as they could. Soon as Kei and Hisoka reached the highest point of their jump, they joined hands and caught Naruto's foot soon as he started to descend. Then, pushing him upwards as he pushed off against their hands, they sent the blonde even higher. Naruto then threw a kunai with an explosive tag high in the sky as soon as he reached the max height of his flight. With the note exploding, all that was left was to head to their secret headquarters. Soon as he landed, he immediately pushed with all of his might into a dash, shouting out to nobody with a large grin on his face.

"Get ready Konoha! Today, I'm declaring another all-out prank war!"

* * *

"So, looks like graduation wouldn't be bothering him this year again then?" the Hokage chuckled to himself. _"I wonder what he's going to be doing today."_

Aside from the old leader, only a few others shared his enthusiasm.

* * *

"_Looks like the dobe'll make this an interesting graduation after all."_ Thought a raven-haired boy as he buried his hands deep in his pockets and walked towards their meeting place, small signs of excitement and anticipation could be seen on his face.

* * *

"Hear that Akamaru? Looks like the dead last has something in store for us today!" barked a boy with markings below his eyes, his puppy howling in excitement atop his head.

* * *

"How troublesome…" muttered a boy with a pineapple hairstyle as he lay down with his head on his arms, eyes half-closed as he watched the clouds.

"I don't know Shika, it might be fun."

"Yeah, you've got to admit, the last one was pretty fun."

"Not to mention a great workout."

He looked at the three who commented, giving them a raised eyebrow as if to question their sanity but the small smile tugging at the corner of his lips betrayed him.

"Fine, fine. What a troublesome bunch..." He sat up and dusted himself off, looking at the group that surrounded him. His cousin, Yuuan along with his best buddy, Kurai of the Hattori clan, already in the process of diving down into the latter's shadow, gave him a big smile and a wave before fully being submerged. He nodded to his own best friend, Akimichi Choji, and the boy merely smiled at him as he pocketed his bag of chips. The round boy with swirls on his cheeks stood up from his seat and walked to him. Soon as they were side by side, they were off.

* * *

An orange haired boy was shaking his matchbox when he saw the explosion. He didn't have to think twice to get into gear, dashing straight towards his accomplice's destination. All the while, he had a huge grin on his face and a fire in his eyes.

"_Oh this'll be a fun graduation! Thank Kami for Naruto!"_

* * *

"_Oh, it'll be a prank war alright, you snotty little brat."_ She twirled a kunai around her finger and she licked her lips in anticipation, a sadistic smile plastered on her face. _"We'll see who gets more laughs this time around."_

* * *

All others around Konoha felt differently. The ANBU were on high alert, stretching their senses to the limits to detect the mischievous blonde while all other ninjas kept a close watch on their surroundings, even the Shadows stirred from their undercover work. Compounds tightened security as inspections were made to check for any planted traps. Even the civilians were unsteady, checking every corner, every opening, and every crack of everything as if expecting to see the blonde menace popping out from such ridiculously small holes. It looked like the entire village was truly going to war, for as they have found out time and again; no one is safe from the dreaded pranks.


End file.
